A look at the final S.Jersey football top 10
Their quarterback set state single-season records with 3,688 passing yards and 48 touchdowns. Their top wide receiver caught 20 touchdown passes, the second-highest total in South Jersey history.
Their quarterback set state single-season records with 3,688 passing yards and 48 touchdowns.
Their top wide receiver caught 20 touchdown passes, the second-highest total in South Jersey history.
They scored 564 points, the second-most in South Jersey history. They averaged 47 points. They were held to fewer than 30 points just one time, when they put up 28.
"They are just so difficult to stop," Lenape coach Tim McAneney said of Timber Creek, which finished No. 1 in the Inquirer's final Top 25 ranking.
Timber Creek (12-0) won its second consecutive South Jersey Group 4 title with a 31-10 victory over Lenape (11-1) on Sunday at Rowan University.
Timber Creek has won 16 games in a row. The Chargers are 66-8 since the start of the 2011 season, with six consecutive visits to the South Jersey finals and four sectional crowns.
This team might have been the best in coach Rob Hinson's 11 seasons at the school in the Erial section of Gloucester Township.
Junior quarterback Devin Leary set state records for passing yards and touchdowns, while throwing just four interceptions. Leary completed 62.7 percent of his passes (198 for 316) in averaging 307.3 passing yards per game.
Senior wide receiver Ezrah Archie caught 20 touchdown passes, second in South Jersey history only to former Florence star Dion Bernardini's 1992 total of 22.
Senior wide receiver Dante Waugh-Hill caught 12 touchdown passes and also led South Jersey with nine interceptions.
"All these kids wanted to do was ball out," Hinson said of his team.
St. Augustine (9-1) finished No. 2 in the rankings. The Hermits, who were No. 1 in the final rankings in 2015, held the top spot this season from Week One until a 57-33 loss to Bergen Catholic in the Non-Public 4 tournament on Nov. 12.
St. Augustine has won 25 games in a row against South Jersey teams. The Hermits had victories by double-digit margins this season over No. 3 Millville, No. 7 Vineland, No. 11 Holy Spirit, and No. 17 St. Joseph.
Led by senior all-purpose Zeke Ennis as well as junior running back Kyle Dobbins and junior quarterback Josh Zamot, St. Augustine won those four games by a combined score of 150-28.
Millville (10-2) jumped into the No. 3 spot based on the Thunderbolts' stunning 22-16 victory over Toms River North in the South Jersey Group 5 title game.
Toms River North was the defending sectional champion and had won 21 games in a row. Led by senior linebacker Zack Douglas as well as junior all-purpose standouts Clayton Scott and Marcial Ramos, Millville won its first South Jersey title since 1975.
Lenape (11-1) finished fourth in the rankings after the best season in program history, with strong work from junior quarterback Matt LaJoie and junior two-way back JoJo Kellum as well as senior linemen Noah Carroll, Tyler Steffa, and Julian Singh, among many others on the balanced squad.
West Deptford (12-0) takes the No. 5 spot after completing the program's fourth perfect season since 2003 with a 19-13 victory over Cedar Creek in the South Jersey Group 2 finals.
The Eagles' trio of Anthony Seas (1,846 yards), Gio Gismondi (1,237), and Kenny Lim (1,003) became just the second group of three teammates to rush for 1,000 yards in a season in South Jersey history.
The first was the West Deptford trio of Gerald Owens (1,701), Connor Smith (1,183), and Josh Cornelius (1,013) in another 12-0 season in 2012.
Senior Nazir Streater scored 19 touchdowns for Camden Catholic (9-1), which finishes in the No. 6 spot. The Irish are 26-4 in three seasons under coach Nick Strom, with just one loss to a South Jersey team (Camden in 2014).
Vineland (8-2) lands at No. 7 after one of the best seasons in the modern history of the program. Junior all-purpose Isaih Pacheco and junior two-way end Nihym Anderson led the way for the Clan, which beat achrival Millville, 45-28, on Thanksgiving.
Cedar Creek (10-2) takes the No. 8 spot after dropping a 19-13 thriller to West Deptford in the Group 2 sectional title game. Senior all-purpose Bo Melton and senior two-way lineman Owen Bowles led the Pirates, who have made three sectional finals in five seasons as a non-independent program.
Shawnee (8-3) earns the No. 9 position thanks to a perfect 5-0 mark in the West Jersey Football League's loaded American Division as well as a South Jersey Group 4 playoff win.
Senior two-way back Dan Wigley and junior linebacker Ryan Parris were among the standouts for the Renegades.
Cherokee (6-4) rounds out the Top 10. Led by senior two-way back John Lovett, the Chiefs were a handful of plays away from another sensational season.
Cherokee's four losses were to Top 10 teams in No. 1 Timber Creek, No. 3 Millville, No. 4 Lenape, and No. 9 Shawnee. Those four setbacks were decided by a total of 22 points, and all four were one-score games.
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